The multi-million pound defence costs were accrued in what has been dubbed the most expensive case in Welsh legal history.

The collapsed trial, together with the lengthy investigation which preceded it, is estimated to have cost up to £30m when prosecution costs are also included.

In a Freedom of Information response published yesterday, the defence costs for the eight former officers and two civilians, as well as for a further trial of five more people which was also scrapped, were put at £11,105,313.

The 10 people on trial had been accused of fabricating a case which led to the wrongful jailing for murder of three men – Tony Paris, Yusef Abdullahi and Stephen Miller – for the 1988 murder of 20-year-old Cardiff prostitute Lynette White.

The 10, who all denied the charges, were formally found not guilty last December after judge Mr Justice Sweeney discharged a Swansea Crown Court jury, telling them the accused could not get a fair trial after it emerged that vital evidence had been destroyed.

The collapse prompted an urgent review into the way the case had been dealt with by South Wales Police.

But in January, it emerged that the boxes of evidence purported to be shredded under orders from the chief investigating officer, Detective Chief Superintendent Chris Coutts, had been located undamaged at South Wales Police headquarters in Bridgend.

Enquiries into the events that led to the collapse of the trial are being carried out by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

The 10 involved in the court case were acquitted and had all entered pleas of not guilty.

The official response to the request for information about the legal aid costs, published by the Legal Services Commission (LSC), said: “As at May 23, 2012, the total legal aid defence costs for the Crown Court trial to date in the Lynette White police corruption case are £11,105,313.

“This figure includes the 10 defendants in the 2011 trial as well as the five defendants whose trial was due to take place this year.”

The statement adds that even though this is the most recent figure, there could be further costs, as the LSC expects further bills to be submitted for the case.

The Freedom of Information request also deals with the previous trials connected with the Lynette White case, including the trial of Jeffrey Gafoor, who admitted the murder and was convicted in 2003.

Gafoor received £98,500 in legal aid.

For the cases before 2001, including the original trial of the so-called “Cardiff five” – Miller, Abdullahi, Paris and cousins Ronnie and John Actie – Legal Aid is not documented, due to the fact that the LSC was not created until 1999 and did not retain the bills data for cases paid after April 2001.

At the November 1990 trial, the Actie cousins were cleared, but the three other men went on to serve two years in prison before being released on appeal.

Stephen Clarke, who represented one of the defendants at last year’s collapsed trial, said the £11m figure was the largest legal aid payment relating to a criminal prosecution Wales had ever seen.

Mr Clarke explained that the costs accrued over more than six years and funded the representation of 15 individuals.

He added: “The fact was that the case against the clients was not strong and we invited the Crown Prosecution Service to consider whether it was in the public’s best interest to continue with the prosecution.”

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